TechCapsules

Reflection AI, a startup founded by former Google DeepMind researchers and backed by Nvidia, launched its open‑weight large language model named Beam on Monday. Beam is marketed toward enterprise users and developers for coding and AI‑agent applications, and the company says it delivers performance comparable to China’s flagship GLM‑5.2 on advanced reasoning benchmarks while costing less than many rival offerings. The firm announced billion‑dollar computing agreements with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and cloud provider Nebius Group NV to [...]

Candice N. Thompson, a Silicon Valley therapist, reports that discussions of artificial‑intelligence anxiety now dominate many sessions with high‑achieving tech workers. Clients worry about AI’s impact on jobs, privacy, resource use and an existential threat popularized by a recent insider warning that the technology could “kill us all.” A Pew Research Center survey released in June showed a majority of Americans view AI skeptically, believing it advances too quickly and will harm society. Psychologists such as Sherry [...]

Benchmark led a $25 million seed round in Furientis, a one‑year‑old defense startup that aims to mass‑produce low‑cost missile interceptors for the U.S. military. The company already holds a funded Pentagon contract to build mid‑range interceptors and was previously backed by a $5 million pre‑seed round. Valued at $125 million, Furientis leverages aerospace veterans from Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit to create missiles that can be assembled quickly from off‑the‑shelf components, costing a fraction of the $3 million “exquisite” interceptors the [...]

Walmart’s current tech lineup showcases twelve discounted items that require no promo code, spanning audio, computers, tablets, smart‑home gear, gaming accessories and chargers. Apple’s AirPods 4 lead the list at $99, down from $129.99, featuring the H2 chip, active noise cancellation and a USB‑C case with up to 30 hours of playback. JBL’s Tune 520BT earbuds are priced at $35, offering Pure Bass sound, Bluetooth 5.3 and 57 hours of battery life. The MacBook Neo debuts at $699, providing a 13‑inch Liquid Retina [...]

Reflection AI, a startup founded by two former Google DeepMind researchers and backed by Nvidia, launched an open‑weight large language model named Beam on Monday. Beam is marketed toward business users and developers for coding and AI‑agent tasks, and the company claims it matches the advanced reasoning performance of China’s flagship GLM‑5.2 model while being cheaper than many rivals. The startup, which emerged from stealth last year, has secured billion‑dollar computing agreements with SpaceX and Nebius Group [...]

Apple’s iOS 27 update introduced a revamped Siri AI that promises “Apple Intelligence,” yet early testing shows the assistant still falters on basic voice tasks. Reviewer Michael Sherman installed iOS 27 on an iPhone 16e and asked Siri to locate videos of his dog Twyla, a photo tag that is correctly labeled in his library. Siri repeatedly misinterpreted the request, offering unrelated Twilight movie trailers instead of the desired clips. The misrecognition occurred across four attempts, highlighting persistent speech‑recognition errors [...]

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT announced a 4.7 trillion‑won (US$3.5 billion) programme to build a frontier artificial‑intelligence model beginning in March 2027. After the 2027 budget is approved by parliament in December, the ministry will issue a competitive tender and aim to appoint a lead developer as early as February. The plan blends state equity with private capital and will concentrate computing chips, data and talent to achieve top‑tier performance. It operates separately from the country’s existing home‑grown [...]

Infineon Technologies announced on October 5 that it has opened a new office in Ho Chi Minh City, located at OfficeHaus Building, 32 Tan Thang street. The facility will serve as a hub for the company’s research and development, sales and marketing in southern Vietnam, initially housing about 20 staff with plans to expand to roughly 60 within one to three years. The move brings Infineon’s total Vietnam workforce to about 80 across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and it will double [...]